So You Hate Your Job
Six
questions to ask yourself before you call it quits
by Lee Ellis
This article is dedicated to all men who feel so miserable at work that they
are ready to quit their job.
If that is you, take some comfort in knowing you have lots of company. This
malady has been around for centuries. In fact, I think those who labored to
construct the pyramids or manned the oars on Spanish galley ships would have
liked a career change.
The stress from being in the wrong job can wreak havoc with a person’s health.
In fact, work stress is a leading cause of health problems. And, a man’s
mental outlook is greatly affected by his success at work, so much so that if
Daddy is not happy at work, everybody in the family will know it.
So if a career affects your health, your happiness and your harmony at home,
then career decisions need to be taken seriously. The six questions below will
help you analyze your situation and discover your motives for considering a
job change.
1. What is it you don’t like about your present job? Make a list of issues
that are causing you to look elsewhere. Evaluate the nature of your work, the
organization, the products, the income and your overall life situation. Your
answers should provide a quick snapshot of your current motivations. Once you
have made this list, use the other questions to gain a more objective look at
your career issues.
2. How much of your desire to change is motivated by a desire for more income?
Money can be a legitimate reason for leaving a job. If you can make more money
in another job that is a good fit, then it may be a wise move. But all too
often men use income as a primary criterion for their decisions, and end up
burned out and wishing they could do something else.
The late Larry Burkett often said that people can be happy at virtually any
income level as long as they have an attitude of contentment. Contentment
really requires a prayerful decision about how much is enough, and until you
determine what that level is you will always be looking for another job that
pays more. Most of us would do well to find a career that fits and learn to
live within the income it pays. In the final analysis, we probably will make
more doing something we love and are good at anyway.
3. Is your current job a good match for your unique talents and interests? In
my work at Career Pathways, I’ve seen that most people who have career
problems are working in an area they don’t fit into. This happens because they
generally don’t have a good understanding of the unique design God has given
them. Without this knowledge, they have chosen fields of work that aren’t a
good match for their talents and interests.
Before you make a career change, look at your job and consider the following
questions. Do the key parts of your job match your personality strengths? For
example, if you enjoy managing people and helping them solve problems, do you
have the opportunity to use these interacting talents as part of your job? If
by nature you are more of a loner, are you able to work in a more focused and
reserved manner? It’s amazing how so many individuals who don’t enjoy solving
people problems get “promoted” into management jobs in which most of their
time is spent working on personnel issues. Know your bent, and make sure your
work is not twisting you the wrong way.
There are other areas of your unique pattern of talents that you also should
consider. For instance, how well does your job match your interests? Are you
naturally motivated to be involved in the type of work you do? Does the field
excite you enough for you to want to learn more about it through professional
reading on your own?
And what about your skills? Is your work something that you are naturally good
at? Many of us have a passion for golf or tennis, but we know we could never
earn a living at it. If it takes your very best to be average in your field,
you probably are not in a good career match for your talents.
The fourth area of your unique design or pattern is values. Your values are
really your needs and priorities, so they are very important in job selection.
Ask yourself these questions to learn about your values: How well does this
job match my needs for a work environment? Do I need to be outdoors, or
perhaps have more variety, or do I need more stability? Also, what do I need
to get out of my work? Is it helping others, earning a lot of money, or do I
need more recognition? Finally, is my work contributing toward the
accomplishment of my life purpose? Are the company and its products and
services compatible with my being a representative of Christ?
Seek the heart of the Holy Spirit in this area, because God sometimes places
His people in service to ungodly masters to accomplish His purpose.
4. With your unique pattern of talents and interests, what career areas are
you best suited for? If your unique design could be thought of as a mold or
template, then your challenge is to identify fields of work that are a good
match. This is a problem that every individual needs to solve as early in life
as possible. After all, if God gave each of us unique talents, He must have
done so for a purpose, and it follows that someday we will give an accounting
of how we invested them.
Finding a career that matches usually requires some creative thinking and is
best done by brainstorming with someone who has a broad knowledge of various
fields of work. You can prime your thinking by going to your local library or
career counselor’s office and looking at publications such as the “Guide for
Occupational Exploration” and the “Occupational Outlook Handbook.” These
Department of Labor publications classify occupations by families and give
descriptions of many different types of work.
5. What is the counsel of your spouse and close friends about your work? Our
pride and personal agendas often prevent us from seeking good counsel, but it
can be valuable and may prevent bad decisions. Our best counselors are usually
those who are most unlike us; in fact, they often are people who irritate us
because of their different personalities and viewpoints.
For instance, if by nature you are a risk taker and quick to act, and your
wife is more cautious and patient, her counsel may be just what you need to
keep you from jumping from the frying pan into the fire. If you truly want
God’s best for your life, you will need to be open to considering the counsel
of others -- especially those who approach decisions from a different
perspective.
6. If you decide to make a career transition, do you have a well-thought-out
plan and a good support team? Too often, people decide to leave a job before
they have a plan to begin somewhere else. This is usually not a good idea. It
can drain your family finances. (Of course, trying to make it through a job
transition by living off credit cards is a formula for financial disaster.)
Before you quit, prepare a sharp résumé and network into a new job quickly.
Find a good book to help you plan your transition.
The most important part of your career decision (and transition, if necessary)
will be your support group of godly counselors and faithful prayer partners.
Share your needs openly with a few intimate friends who will pray for you.
This can be a great faith builder to everyone. Also, it’s likely that someone
on your support team may be able to network you into a potential job.
Answering these questions should give you a good basis for evaluating your
career and helping you look before you leap from your current job. It’s not
always easy for men to take the time to work through so many issues before
making a decision, but it sure can save a lot of grief later on.
By Lee Ellis for “New Man” magazine. All rights reserved.
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